Shoe upper



March 23 1926. n 1,578,195

M. w. FITZGERALD Y SHOE UPPER Filed Jly 16, 1924 Cul Fatented Mar. 23, 1925.

= UNITED@ STATES. PATENT' orties.

MARTIN' W'. FITZGERALD, 0F BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SEARS, ROE- BUCK 82; CO. 0F MAINE, vOll SPRINGVALE, IJLANE, A VC()BJPOlEtA'lItOIN' 0F MANE.

snes UPPER.

Application led July 16, 1924. v Serial No. 725,281.

'[o @ZZ whom i 72mg/ conce/vi lle it known that l, Mixn'rrN lV. Frrzenn- ALD, a citizen of the United States, residing vat Brockton, county ot' Plymouth, Stato. ot

lllassachusetts, have invented a certain new and Yu'se'tulImprovement in Shoe' Uppers, oft which the following is specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

his invention relates to the finishing ot the exposed edges ot' the upperso't shoes, and es )ecially the exposed edges ot womens high-grade low shoes, and has for its general object tov provide amethod whereby the eX- posed edges ot the uppers et such shoesmay be attractively and satisfactorily finished at al cost considerably less than that involved in producing workof equal grade by the methods heretofore usually employed.

The edges of the uppers of womens highgrade low shoes have heretofore usually been completed and bound or trimmed by what is known as a French linish-. In carrying out this method, a strip of binding material is laid upon the margin of the upper with one of its edges substantially registering with the edge of the upper and is sewed to the latter by a longitudinal seam located close to the superposed edges. The binding material is then folded laterallyv over the edge of the upper in such a manner as to conceal the seam and form a smooth and even beading or piping, and its free edge is cemented to the inner tace of the upper, after which it is secured in place by a second longitudinal seam. This method of iinishing the edge of the upper isslow and laborious, requires highly skilled hand labor in order to produce satisfactory work, and involves three distinct operations, namely, first, sewing the edge ot the binding material'to the edge of the upper, second,v

folding the binding material evenly over the edge ot the upper and cementing the same in place, and, third, stitching the cemented edge of the binding materialto the upper. The second of these operations requires the utmost care and skill in order to lay the binding material evenly over the edge of the upper while cementing it in place without soiling, and the character of the labor required makes this operation eX- tremely expensive. In order to overcome these objections, it has been proposedto tinish the edges ot shoe uppers by sewing thereto, by means oiE a single longitudinal seam, a strip oft binding material applied in Vt'olded position over the edge ot the upper by the ufje et a sewing machine having a folding attachment, the seam passing through the upper and through bothfedges ot the binding material. The results accomplished by this method, however, are very unsatisfactory, the iinish producedbeing ot rough and ragged appearance and being unsuitable for any shoes except those ci? the cheapest and lowest grades. l The present invention has, therefore, for a more Vpaiticular object to pro ide'rashoe upper and a method ot nishing the same in accordance wit-h which the edge of the upper may be quickly finished at a single machine operation requiring only moderate skill and, therefore, only rrelatively small expense, the result being comparable to the expensive French inish and being entirely satisfactory 'for shoes ot' the best grades.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will best be understood trom the following description ci certain operations and resulting products by which said invention may be carried into effect, all as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. lt will be understood, however, that the particular operations, devices, materials, and results described and shown have been chosen tor illustrative purposes merely, and that the invention, as delined by the claini hereunto appended-may be otherwise practised without departure from the spirit and scope thereof. y j

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a shoe tinished in accordance with the invention.

` Fig. 2 is a. great-ly enlarged, fragmentary, perspective View illustrating a type of braid suitablefor use in practising the invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view oit the guiding and stitching instrumentalities employed, lillustrating the operation ot attaching the linishing material or braid to the edge ol thc upper.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections taken substantially on the lines L -4 and 5 5, respectively, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a greatly enlarged conventionalized or diagrammatic perspective View illustrating the completed work.

Fig. 'l' is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the upperlining secured in pla-ce.

Referring first to Fig. l, there is shown therein a shoe comprising a sole B, a heel C, and an upper A including an ankle strap a. The exposed edges of the upper A, including the ankle strap, are, in accordance with the present invention, finished by the attachment thereto of a strip of suitable finishing or binding material D. As shown in Fig. 2, said binding material D may comprise a fiat or unfolded strip of braid of suitable character, the braid shown consisting of two or more longitudinal parallel twisted strands 2O constituting warps with which is interwoven suitable weft material 2l which may comprise silver or gilt tinsel er threads of any desired color. In accordance with the invention, the finishing or binding material D is secured to the edge of the upper A by means of a zigzag seam E, so as to become a unitary edge portion thereof.

The zigzag seam E for attaching the braid D to the edge of the upper A may be formed by a zigzag-stitch sewing machine of any suitable type. Certainparts of such a machine are illustrated in Figs. 3, I and 5, wherein 22 denotes the bed plate, 23 the feed member, 2d the presser foot, and 25 the needle. These instrumentalities are adapted to the purpose of practising the invention, as illustrated in Figs. l to 7, by roviding the bed plate 22 with a fixed tubular guide 26 for the braid D immediately in advance of the presser foot 24k and by providing the latter with a lateral guiding shoulder 27 (Fig. 5) adapted to engage the edge of said braid as the latter emerges from the guide 26.

In carrying out the method by the use of the materials and instrumentalities above described, the braid D is passed through the guide 26 and under the presser foot 24 in engagement with the shoulder 2T on the latter, and the edge of the upper A is pushed and guided by hand into abutting relationship to the free edge of the braid, forcing the latter against said shoulder, whereby said upper and braid, as fed through'the machine by a feeding member 23, are guided into juxtaposition as they are connected by the zigzag seam E, the latter at oneside being caused to penetrate the upper adjacent the edge thereof and at the opposite side being caused to penetrate the strip of braid intermediate the edges of the latter. The usual zigzag seam, as shown in Fig. Ge, comprises an upper or needle thread el and a lower or shuttle thread c2 which is passed through the needle loops of the upper thread and which, when tightened by the usual takeup devices (not shown), causes the braid D to be firmly bound to the edge of the upper A so as to finish the saine in an attractive way, this result being accomplished by avsingle passage `of the work through the machine while guiding the parts in a simple manner not requiring any high degree of skill. If desired, and as shown in Fig. 7, a lining F may be secured in the usual positon to the upper by means of the usual longitudinal seam Gr connecting said upper and lining adjacent their Lipper edges, the lining in this instance preferably extending up a short distance above the abutting edges of the upper A and the braid D, and the seam G being located coincident with or immediately adjacent the inner edge of the zigzag seam E.

@the resulting finish shown in Fig. 1, and diagrammatically on a considerably enlarged scale in Fig. G, is suitable for shoes of the best grades and, as above explained, can be quickly and easily applied at a single operation and by the exercise of very little skill. The braid D may be of any color and composed of any material suitable to the class of work in connection with which it is used and the thread forming theseam E may be of the same color as the braid or otherwise as may be preferred.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:-

A shoe comprising an upper having at the free edge thereof a pair of parallel braids connected together and attac-lied to the upper by a single zigzag seam, each stitch thereof passing centrally between said braids and through the upper at'one point only.

In testimony whereof I a'liix my signature.

MARTIN IV. FITZGERALD.V 

